NC Legislature has film incentives on chopping block, could kill our film industry’

Saturday

May 17, 2014 at 12:01 AMMay 17, 2014 at 8:32 PM

Molly Phipps

When “The Hunger Games” was filmed in Shelby in 2011, it brought $16 million to Cleveland County as the cast, crew and extras spent money in area restaurants, hotels and businesses. Events and tours after the filming for tourists and fans continue to bring thousands of dollars each year to the county. And just this week, Cinemax’s series “Banshee” filmed scenes in Gastonia.

Those projects came to North Carolina and received tax incentives for producing their films and TV shows.

But the state could stand to lose future projects — and those dollars that save its taxpayers money — if the incentives aren’t renewed by the end of the year.

Jackie Sibley, Cleveland County’s director of travel and tourism, said she is currently in talks with a film scout for an HBO series to be filmed in Cleveland County.

“Losing the incentive would mean that we would lose the project,” she said.

Since 2010, the state of North Carolina has offered a 25 percent tax credit as an incentive to production companies, a credit that is set to expire Jan. 1, 2015, unless it’s renewed by the state Legislature this year.

‘Kill our film industry’

Requests from film scouts come in to Sibley at least once a week, but she said if the credits expire, Cleveland County would have “zero chance” of actually landing a film or television project.

“Losing the film incentives will kill our film industry,” she said. “Projects are likely to go to nearby Georgia, who has increased their efforts to attract films in order to compete with North Carolina.”

Both Georgia and Louisiana offer sizable tax incentives, which have attracted more than 5,600 and 13,600 film industry jobs, respectively, to each state.

By comparison, North Carolina’s film industry drew 3,569 jobs last year, according to a FilmL.A. report on feature film production.

“The economic impact of filming in North Carolina goes beyond the millions of dollars spent during the project. The residual tourism goes on for years. The media attention equals thousands of dollars of free advertising,” Sibley said. “Just having ‘The Hunger Games’ filmed in Shelby has exceeded the $16 million impact during the filming.”

Losing a spotlight on the county

Sibley said she gets calls weekly from people interested in touring “The Hunger Games” filming site.

“This project has led to attention we would not have otherwise received from tour groups, leisure travelers, journalists and other filmmakers,” she said.

The HBO project is still in progress but will depend on whether the incentives are renewed, Sibley said.

“Currently, we are still working with the scout. But they have let me know that we won’t get the project if the incentive goes away,” she said.

The North Carolina General Assembly reconvened for the 2014 session last Wednesday and will soon decide whether to extend the tax credits, let them expire or approve a different program.

Rep. Julia Howard, the chair of the house finance committee, said she didn’t expect the incentives to be extended in their current form, The Associated Press reported Thursday.

Beth Petty, director of the Charlotte Regional Film Commission, said losing the tax credits would have a dramatic effect on the entire Charlotte region.

“Shelby and the whole area around Shelby has been very active,” Petty said. “You’ve had a lot of production that has come through that area, ‘The Hunger Games,’ ‘Blood Done Sign My Name.’ Shelby has been just a gold mine for us, because everyone there has been so production-friendly and there are some great locations.”

Petty said the film commission just wants to keep the ball rolling with film, music video, television and other productions being filmed in the area.

“We certainly want to keep the tax credit in place so we can continue to bring more production to the region,” she said. “It’s a fantastic place.”

How the North Carolina film tax credit works North Carolina offers a 25 percent refundable tax credit as an incentive to production companies. The cap is $20 million, but TV series are not subject to a per-project cap. The minimum spending amount is $250,000. The tax credits will expire Jan. 1, 2015, unless they are renewed by the state government.